A retail makeover for Chelmsford?

CHELMSFORD -- The departure of four business tenants in the town center has some officials talking about the potential of reshaping the area, based on the availability of several key parcels.

The law firm Deschenes & Farrell has left the historic Fiske House at the corner of Billerica and Boston roads and Aubuchon Hardware has closed its store on Summer Street. Candlelite Quilts on Central Square closed its doors earlier this month and Newton's Hair Salon, a few doors down, is selling its store. It closed Saturday after 80 years in business.

The closures come at a time when town officials and consultants are looking at the composition of the town center with the future of several key parcels undetermined, including the 8.5-acre former Stop & Shop site and vacant Odd Fellows Building. A study released this fall suggested the recruitment of a broader range of retailers to lure more people to live in the town center.

Among those that could attract more residents are food stores; professional services; clothing, shoes and accessory stores; and simply a greater number of retailers. Residents and officials have called for a grocery store since Stop & Shop moved to 299 Chelmsford St., site of the former Chelmsford Cinema, just over a year ago.

Newton's owner Robert Newton said in a posting to customers that the salon was closing after 80 years -- 22 in Chelmsford -- due to continued losses "in operating the salon over the past few years.

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"This was a difficult and emotional decision," Newton said in the posting. He couldn't be reached for additional comment.

Candlelite Quilts owner Cathy Ruggiero said a combination of rising costs of liability insurance, workers' compensation and a spike in the cost of fabric from $8 or $9 per yard to $12 to $14 per yard made staying in business too difficult. She will still do pattern design and some teaching through the company's website, www.candlelitequilts.com.

"If you add everything up, you break even, but that's all you're ever going to do," she said of retail. The store is closing after six and a half years.

Deschenes & Farrell partner Douglas Deschenes said the 12-employee firm enjoyed being in Chelmsford but could not resolve a disagreement with its landlord over what Deschenes said were needed repairs to the Fiske House, a Colonial-style building built in 1798. The firm moved to Westford in late November.

The recent departures could allow for changes suggested in the study, said James Lane, a selectman and member of the Center Village Master Plan Committee. Lane lamented the departures but said, "with that comes opportunity as well."

The town, Lane said, could approach building owners to see what possibilities they might want to pursue.

Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company, a real-estate development and investment firm, owns the Odd Fellows Building at 24 Central Square and Fiske House. The former, built in 1896, has been vacant since Sovereign Bank moved out in 2005. Town officials have described relations with Trammell Crow as difficult.

The town-center study said the high cost of renovating existing spaces has made it difficult for new shops or restaurants to move in.

Town Manager Paul Cohen said renovating the Odd Fellows building to meet current building codes would likely cost several million dollars. He made his comments on a recent taping of the town public-access show "Politically Incorrect."

"You basically have to gut that building," Cohen said. Lane called the building's condition "deplorable."

Sovereign Bank holds a lease for the site until 2020, followed by five-year options, Cohen said, making any costly changes with long-term returns on investment unlikely.

The smaller Fiske House is in better condition and shouldn't be hard to lease, he said, calling the vacancy "a rare and unique opportunity" for the building.

With a new vacancy in the Shoppes at Summer Street Crossing with Aubuchon's departure, space could be available for a small grocer, Lane said. Aubuchon Hardware's corporate office in Westminster did not return a call seeking comment.

"Obviously, there's some success in that plaza," Lane said. "I don't look at it as the glass is half-empty. I look at it as the glass is half-full."

Cohen, in his cable-show appearance, also said Shop & Shop's parent company is doing "due diligence" on the property. The former supermarket and vacant Marshalls site next door likely need significant renovations for other uses, he said. Housing "may be a possibility," he added, but it isn't clear whether investors might be willing to take that risk.

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